National Leaders in ww2
I am doing this in alphabetical order 'Albania ' Enver Hoxha was the leader of the Communist Party of Albania, which led the Albanian National Liberation Movement to a struggle in Albania under Italy. 'Belgium' Leopold III of Belgium 'reigned as King of the Belgians from 1934 until 1951. Prior to the war Leopold had made extensive preparations against such an invasion of his country. After Belgium's surrender Leopold stayed to face the invaders, while his entire government had fled to Great Britain. King Leopold rejected cooperation with the Nazis and refused to administer Belgium in accordance with their dictates. Despite his defiance of the Germans, the Belgian government-in-exile in London refused to recognize his right to rule. The Germans held him under house arrest at the royal castle in Brussels until the end of the war. ' ''' '''Hubert Pierlot was the Prime Minister of Belgium from 1939 till 1945. Pierlot became the leader of the government during the Phoney War until the German invasion. Pierlot fled to Britain where he led the government in exile and the formation of the Free Belgian Forces. 'Brazil' Getúlio Vargas was the president of Brazil from 1930 until 1945. Despite Brazil's quasi-fascist government of Estado Novo and strong economic ties with Nazi Germany, Vargas eventually sided with the Allies after the sinking of five Brazilian ships by German U-Boats and declared war on the Axis in 1942. Vargas gave economic and military support to the Allies. British Commonwealth ﻿ King George VI was the reigning monarch of the British Commonwealth during the war, and thus acted as Commander-in-Chief of a number of states within that organization, including the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. The King was, further, a symbol of national and Commonwealth unity during the war, he and his family visiting bomb sites, munitions factories, and with Commonwealth soldiers. Several members of the Royal Family, including the Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II), served in the forces. 'Australia' Robert Menzies '''was the Prime Minister of Australia from 26 April 1939 until 29 August 1941. He served a second term as Prime Minister between 1949 and 1966. '''Arthur Fadden replaced Menzies as Prime Minister but was forced from office when his government collapsed on 7 October 1941. He had previously served as acting Prime Minister for long periods while Menzies was out of the country. John Curtin was Prime Minister from 7 October 1941 until his death on 5 July 1945. In January 1942, facing Japanese attacks, he wrote in a historic New Year message that Australia looked to the US for its security, rather than the UK. Curtin also formed a close working relationship with General MacArthur and directed the Australian military to follow MacArthur's orders as if they were his own. Curtin had several disagreements over defense policy with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. 'Canada' William Lyon Mackenzie King was the Prime Minister of Canada during the war. After helping to secure nearly full legislative autonomy for the Commonwealth realms, Canada was free to enter the war on its own accord. Despite initially favouring appeasement of Adolf Hitler, King asked the opinion of the Canadian parliament before advising George VI, as King of Canada, to declare war on Germany after the Invasion of Poland. 'New Zealand' Michael Joseph Savage was Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1935 till his death in 1940. An opponent of fascism and the appeasement. He declared war on Nazi Germany in 1939 by declaring "Where Britain goes, we go! Where she stands, we stand". Peter Fraser was Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1940 till 1949. He came into office after the death of Michael Joseph Savage. During the war, Fraser had a concern with ensuring that New Zealand retained control over its own forces. After serious losses in the Balkans Campaign in 1941, Fraser determined to retain a say as to where to deploy New Zealand troops. 'Union of South Africa' Jan Smuts 'was the Prime Minister of the South Africa from 1939 till 1948. He became South Africa's first Field Marshal in 1941. After the war he represented South Africa at the drafting of the United Nations Charter. 'The Untited Kingdom ''' '''Neville Chamberlain, who had formerly led a policy of appeasement towards Nazi Germany, was Prime Minister during the first stages of the war, taking office in 1937 and resigning on 10 May 1940 after the failed Norwegian campaign. Chamberlain, who remained Conservative Party leader, then became Lord President of the Council. He died of cancer on 9 November 1940, half a year after resigning. Winston Churchill was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during most of the war, from 1940 to 1945. An early opponent of Hitler, he opposed appeasement of Germany. He was First Lord of the Admiralty at the outbreak of war, then came into power at the start of the Nazi invasion of France. During the Battle of Britain, Churchill's speeches boosted the British morale during the darkest moments. Clement Attlee was the Labour Party leader during the war, and was generally responsible for domestic politics throughout the war as a member of Churchill's War Cabinet. After the end of the war in Europe, he was elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the new general election and served from 1945 to 1951. He attended the second half of the Potsdam Conference and announced the Defeat of Japan. 'Newoundland' Sir Humphrey Walwyn was governor of Newfoundland and chairman of the Commission of Government from 1936 to 1946. A former Royal Navy Admiral, during World War II he was active in encouraging Newfoundlanders to join the war effort. 'British Malaysa' Shenton Thomas 'was the Governor of Straits Settlements and the British High Commissioner in Malaya from 1934 until 1942. After the fall of Singapore he was taken as a POW and imprisoned in Cell 24 of Changi Prison. 'British Palestine Harold MacMichael was a British colonial administrator who was appointed as the High Commissioner of the British Mandate of Palestine from 1937 until 1944. During this era he attempted to suppress Zionist and Arab nationalists but had to change this policy during the war. 'British Raj' The Marquess of Linlithgow was the Viceroy of India from 1936 until 1943. During the war he made an appeal for unity among the people of India. Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a major political Muslim leader of the All India Muslim League. When World War II broke out he asked all Indians to join the British Army against the Nazi Germany. Republic of China Chiang Kai-shek was the leader of the Nationalist Government of the Republic of China and the supreme commander of the China Theatre, which also included Burma. He was the chairman of the National Military Council, the highest political organ of the wartime Chinese government. . He wished to defeat com munism first before taking on Japan, but after the Xi'an Incident Chiang made a temporary truce with the communists to form a united front against Japan. After that war the truce ended and hostilities continued until his government retreated to Taiwan. Mao Zedong was leader of the Communist Party of China. He formed an alliance with the Nationalist Government after the Xi'an Incident.There is controversy over the fact that he had refused to send troops against the Japanese, instead, intending to attack the Nationalist government during the ceasefire and replenish their battered forces - "Our determined policy is 70% self-development, 20% compromise, and 10% fight the Japanese". After the war, the truce ended and hostilities continued until the communists gained control of the mainland. Zhang Xueliang was warlord of Manchuria after the death of his father. Nicknamed the "Young Marshal"; he was a strong opponent of the Japanese occupation of Manchuria after the Mukden Incident. He was responsible for the Xi'an incident which established a truce between the Nationalist and Communists. He fled the mainland with Nationalist government to Taiwan after the communists seized the mainland.